Author's note: So, this was inspired by my love for superhero romances, a prompt about kissing in alleys, and my ability to make an alternate universe for every scenario. Shout-out to Eryn (Child of a Broken Dawn), for convincing me that writing this is a good idea.
Don't own the characters, or any vague references to other things. Seriously, do you think I would be writing fan fiction if I did?
The hair was a bad decision. I look like I came out of a Christmas cartoon. Oh, sweet Charles; the suit's riding up. Why did I agree to this? There is literally someone being chased by the police two blocks away, and I'm stuck doing this. Though not the thoughts you'd imagine a superhero having, those were indeed flowing through the mind of one.
"And it is with great pleasure that I introduce the man who has saved our lives countless times- Lux!" The mayor was soon the last thing on the minds of every citizen of New York City, those in Rockefeller Plaza, and the rest watching at home. All there to finally see the man in person. The man who'd supposedly prevented another terrorist attack, stopped a nuclear fusion reactor from blowing the city into radioactive oblivion, and taken down the genius monkeys before they could get to the Statue of Liberty.
People often wondered how they'd survived so long without a superhero such as Lux, considering this had all happened over the course of two years. Some blamed the apocalypse for the recent disasters, as well as Lux's "freakish" abilities, but they were widely disregarded. Others blamed the economy, and some people believed them. The rest were often too enamored by Lux's very tight (if not slightly cliché) suit, to question anything.
Nobody was aware of the fact that their hero was a shy poet who was bad with crowds, and happened to have superpowers. To this day, he had no idea how he got the latter. He'd read countless comic books, and he did not recall getting bit by a radioactive spider, being exposed to gamma radiation, or being sent to Earth by his alien birth parents. Part of him, the literature nerd, hoped his mother had been seduced by a Greek god while she was married to the man whose name was on the birth certificate of Lucas Matthew Beineke. But he seriously doubted anyone would tell Lucas a thing about his real parentage if there was anything to question.
"Thank you." Lucas said to the mayor in his, 'super manly Lux' voice to accept the comically large gold key. "It is the greatest honor to be awarded the key to the city...for the fifth time. And while I've saved you all, I just want you to remember." He took a pause for dramatic effect, and placed his hand over his heart. "That you all are heroes in here." Teenagers began to squeal, and Lucas wished he could cover his overly-sensitive ears. "And it is with great gratitude to you all that I accept this award, on behalf of-"
The sight of a black figure who appeared to be swinging over the crowd on some sort of rope, distracted him for just enough time to be knocked flat on his back. He found himself struggling to breath, with the wind knocked out of him, and a black boot firmly on his chest. He attempted to heave himself up, a normally easy task when an average person held him down, but this time it was as if a steel beam was holding him down(something that had happened to him before, and it hadn't been pleasant).
"Always expect the unexpected, Lux." His eyes finally adjusted and found that the very female black figure was smiling maliciously at him.
"Wh-" He started, as she pulled out what could only be described as a high-tech crossbow and pointed it right at the left of his famous eyes.
"One more move from you, and I'll liquefy your hero's little brain." She said without facing the approaching security guards approaching from behind, that had already pointed their guns at her. "And perhaps burst the eardrums of everyone within a mile. I do think that's what happens with an extremely powerful sonic pulse." She watched as they all lowered their weapons. "Good."
Lux, still pinned to the ground, once again struggled against her. "Not used to people being superior to you, Lightbulb?" She spat, and he stopped. "See, this is the problem with all of you." She began, addressing the thousands of people in the square. "You are all so dependent, that you're willing to treat any freak in tights with an entire bottle of product in his hair, like a god." She pressed down on his chest, enough to get a cry of pain from him."I bet none of you have heard that before, but you deserve to know. Your holier-than-thou Lux, is weak!" She felt a crack beneath her foot and smirked before he let out another cry of agony. The crowd gasped. "But if he wants to be seen as a hero, fine. Just remember that every story needs a villain."
She knelt down after removing her foot from his chest, and patted the broken rib with her gloved hand. "It's nice to meet you; I'm Nera." She whispered in his ear, just prior to yanking the key award from his hand.
With very quick motions, Nera aimed her crossbow at a building and shot out a grapple hook. For good measure, she even threw her head back and laughed manically before swinging away, up over the crowd, her black cape and matching long hair flowing behind her. Gone as quickly as she'd come.
When Lucas finally managed to get up, he winced when he took a deep breath, and had to keep reminding himself that he would heal overnight. Then tomorrow, he could track down the crazy bitch. And he meant that quite literally. She seemed both composed, and completely unhinged at the same time. Very much like an artist, or someone that constantly had a shrink on call.
The crowd screamed again when there was a small explosion in the sky a few blocks away. "Mayor, was that key pure gold?" Lux asked, having a feeling of what was just blown up. The man turned slightly red.
"Gold-plated." He admitted, and Lux nodded his head once.
"Do you think you will be able to handle things from here?" Lux asked the mayor and the security that had attempted to help him.
"Yeah. But are you alright?" The mayor asked. Lux showed his pearly white teeth, and put his fists on his hips.
"I am always alright." He lied, and launched himself into the air with one painful jump. Lucas swore loudly when he knew he was high enough for no children to hear, and against his earlier decision, began to scan. His eyes began glowing brightly while he looked for any psychos with magical crossbows. After five minutes and nothing, he started towards his loft, still in a state between angry and confused.
Lucas found his open window and flew in, making sure he landed as softly as possible so his mother didn't hear him from below, and changed into the normal outfit he'd set out that morning. He remembered his hair, and put a baseball hat on as well. Only then did he open his bedroom door and levitate just above the floor in a way that he called, 'ghosting', downstairs to the front door, which he opened and closed as noisily as possible before dropping to his feet.
"Mom, I'm home!" Lucas called. He walked into the living room, where his mother, Alice, had her eyes glued to the television.
"Sweetheart!" She turned to him. "I was so worried about you!" She wrapped her arms around him tightly, which normally could not elicit a small gasp of pain from her son. "What's wrong?" She asked in concern.
"Nothing. I just am a little freaked out by that thing in Rockefeller." He lied.
"I know, I saw. Who was that maniac, anyway?" Alice asked. Her son shrugged. "Well, it's times like these that I miss Ohio. Even with that Lux flying around."
"Mom, you hated Willard as much as I did." Lucas said as he sat down on the sofa as carefully as possible.
"That is not true. I had lots of friends, and people loved my poems." She argued. "Besides, I didn't have to worry about you being attacked by the X-Men in Willard!" She added.
"The X-Men are good and fictional, Mom." Lucas stated. Alice sighed.
"Your father used to wonder if those comic books were going to ruin you. But then again, he said that about everything but sports and real estate." She sat down next to her son. "It's no wonder the stress finally got him."
"Then it's a good thing I do nothing 24/7!" Lucas said with a grin, and his mother jokingly smacked the side of his head with a magazine. Lucas noticed the cover. "Since when do you read Forbes?" He asked.
"Amanda sent it over for you." He sighed and took it from his mother.
"What page?"
"Fifty." Alice said, already having read the shallow article on the heiress. She turned back to the news, still showing replays of that morning's events, while her son flipped to the page. After a while, he laughed loudly, and re-read the passage to Alice.
"Miss. Buckman devotes her time to needy children, and donates heavily to charitable organizations." Alice giggled. "Precisely. I think pigs will fly before that happens." Lucas was about to throw the magazine away when the picture on the page after Amanda's caught his eye. A strikingly beautiful young woman with very pale skin, jet black hair in two tight braids, a black dress that belonged in another time (probably the photographer's decision), and not a semblance of a smile from her lips, nor her brown eyes.
At the very young age of just eighteen, Wednesday Addams is the heiress to one of America's biggest fortunes. She is the niece of past Forbes' Most Eligible Bachelor, Fester Addams. Miss. Addams has declined to be interviewed, however, Forbes has learned that she was home schooled by her mother after seventh grade, and recently ended her relationship with her boyfriend of several months, Henry McIves. She is no longer a suspect in his disappearance.
She has chosen to remain off the radar for most of her life, so it is relatively unknown if she is involved with charities, or has a reality television show planned. But, according to an outside source, she is a staunch liberal, and may possibly be opposed to the recent amendments to the vigilante law in New York.
Lucas shook his head, and tossed the magazine onto the coffee table. No, it couldn't have been her. That would be absurd. Clearly, it was time for some pain meds.
"That was the worst display of 'keeping your cool' while revealing yourself to the public, that I have ever seen." Wednesday's brother greeted her the moment she stepped off the elevator.
"I would have loved to see you do better." Nera shot back as she peeled off her mask.
"Look, I hate the arrogant jerk as much as the next guy, but I think breaking him on live TV was a bit extreme." Pugsley said as he unclasped the cape from his sister's back, and hung it up carefully.
"I may have slightly lost my cool in front of that crowd." Wednesday admitted.
"Slightly?" The twelve-year-old laughed at the understatement of the century while his sister struggled to find the zipper on her back. "Need help?" He asked. She nodded, and he slowly slid it down in a manner that made Wednesday feel completely uncomfortable, and she smartly decided to change behind a divider.
"But aside from the whole mishap, how did it look from your perspective?" She asked while slipping out of the Kevlar and leather catsuit. "Did I look insane in the good way, or insane like Grandma?"
"Well, apparently teenagers have been making death threats against you online." Pugsley offered as a way around the question. After a short pause, his sister reappeared wearing one of her usual dresses, and a satisfied smile.
"Excellent." She interjected, and began to braid her hair with speed that could only be the product of years of practice, and abnormal coordination.
"And of course, there's a warrant out for Nera's arrest." Pugsley added.
"Charges?"
"Assault, grand larceny, destruction of property, illegal weapons possession, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest." He named them off. "Congratulations."
"Thank you." She crossed over to the lair's mini fridge and pulled out orange juice and cyanide.
"I think you should probably stay under the radar for a couple weeks until this dies down a bit." Pugsley suggested and his sister nodded. There was a small pounding on the elevator door, followed by the faint shouting of a little boy.
"Guys, let me in!" Pugsley got next to the door and yelled,
"What's the password?"
"You guys never gave me one!" Pubert yelled back.
"Oh, well too bad!" Pugsley shouted back maliciously. It took all of two seconds for the little boy to start wailing, and Wednesday was forced to open the door with the remote.
"Way to undermine me, Wednes." Pugsley said to his sister as their baby brother entered with a smug grin on his face.
"You have no power here, so I'm not undermining anything." She defended, and poured an extra glass of juice for Pubert. "Cyanide?" She asked, and the six-year-old gave her an exasperated look.
"What do I look like, a child?" He asked, and Wednesday laughed.
"Oh, no. Not at all." She handed him the glass and took hers.
"Nice bluff with the part about the sonic attachment." Pubert complimented after he'd taken a sip.
"I don't know what you mean." She said with a wink. "But seriously, thank you for designing a sturdy grapple hook. Falling and then running out of there would have just been embarrassing." Pubert smiled.
"I can't do anything with sonic, but father and Lurch helped me make some modifications to your car." He offered.
"Have I told you you're brilliant recently?" Wednesday asked her baby brother as he led her into the garage portion of the lair.
"Kissass." Pugsley murmured from where he was being forced to make his own drink.
"I heard that!" The younger boy yelled.
"Don't care." Pugsley said back, and followed his siblings into the garage.
At first glance, Wednesday's black 1957 Chevy Bel-Air appeared the same. Pubert was forced to walk around, showing off all of the new features, including bullet and fireproof body and glass, all new engine that allowed the American classic to outrun any modern police car, and Wednesday's favorite; a machine gun that would rise from the hood with a push of a button.
"I made your bombs." Pugsley mumbled.
"Stop being a baby." Wednesday said absently to him as she tested out the driver's seat, and grinned like a proper maniac at the new control panel.
"Wednesday, remember what I said about keeping a low profile?" Pugsley asked rhetorically as she started it up and revved the engine.
"Carbon monoxide." Pubert sighed.
"Tell Mother and Father that I'll be back soon." Wednesday said to her brothers as she pressed the garage door opener on her sun visor.
"What did I just say?!" Pugsley yelled in vain as she peeled out of sight up the ramp and outside. He angrily pulled a cigar and a lighter out of his back pocket. "She never listens! I tell you, Pubert, sometimes I wonder why we put up with her." He took a drag off his cigar and sighed.
"Because she's our sister, and you enjoy the physical pain she dishes out to you on a regular basis, which some might consider creepy?" Pubert barely got to finish his sentence before his brother punched him in the stomach, and caused him to fall to the ground. "Wanna go kill a squirrel?" He strained to ask.
"Uh huh." Pugsley agreed, and sulked up the ramp, with Pubert crawling behind him.
Yay super OTP! But seriously, was it good? Review!
And here's some fun little tidbits for you all. Lux is Latin for light(which is the meaning of the name Lucas), Nera's Italian for black, Pugsley's one-sided creepiness is totally canon in the musical (seriously, go rewatch What If and tell me otherwise), and the title is the opposite of Turn Off the Dark (the name of the atrocious Spider-Man musical).